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1st Day...
 Guests
are greeted at Adana Airport, from where we
proceed to Antakya (ancient Antioch), one of
the Roman Empire's foremost commercial and
trading centers and the city where Saint
Peter established one of the world's first
Christian communities. After we settle into
our hotel and enjoy lunch, our first stop is
the Sokullu Mehmet Pasa Caravanserai. We
then proceed to the Antakya Archeological
Museum, with its near-immaculate Roman
mosaics and the cave church of Saint Peter,
the monumental facade of which was built by
the Crusaders in the 12th century AD. Dinner
and overnight in Antakya
2nd Day...
After breakfast, we make an early start for
Gaziantep, where we tour the Gaziantep
Archeological Museum's collection of Hittite
reliefs, gold jewelry and priceless mosaics
recently discovered in nearby Zeugma. After
visiting the castle, most remnants of which
dates to the Seljuk period, we lunch on
Gaziantep's distinctive regional dishes,
then explore the timeless passages of the
historical
 bazaar,
with its rich variety of mother-of-pearl
inlaid objects, carpets, kilims, spices,
antiques, silver and hand-embroidered
headscarves. Early in the evening we head
northeast to Adiyaman, where we suggest
everyone retire early, because at 2:00 am
you will be awakened and taken to the
2,150-meter (7,500-foot) summit of Nemrut
Dagi for the sunrise, one of the most
beautiful anywhere in the world. Overnight
in Adiyaman
3rd Day…
By 5:30 in the morning, we will be gathered
on Mt. Nemrut waiting for the first rays of
the rising sun to illuminate the magnificent
tomb built here by Antiochus I Epiphanes
(64-38 BC). The massive stone heads, seated
statue of Apollo, Fortuna, Zeus, Antiochus
and Hercules, altar, reliefs and
50-metre-high cairn of small stones covering
King Antiochus's tomb gradually come into
view. You'll have plenty of time to examine
these breathtaking works and ask questions
about their extraordinary origins. As we
descend to
 Adiyaman,
we visit Arsemeia, the capital of the
ancient Commagne kingdom, Cendere Bridge, a
Roman structure still in use today, and
Karakus tumulus, surrounded by pillars and
believed to be the funeral mound of King
Antiochus's wife. After breakfast and a rest
back at the hotel, we visit Ataturk Dam, the
centerpiece of Turkey's GAP irrigation
project, one of the largest in the world,
then enjoy a tea break in an authentic
nomadic tent on the shores of the massive
man-made lake.
Immediately after arriving at our hotel in
Şanliurfa, we have lunch, then set off to
explore one of the oldest urban areas in the
world, a city that retains its mesmerizing,
exotic character. As we visit the medieval
houses, narrow market streets, the Cave of
Abraham, believed to be the prophet's
birthplace, and Golbasi, the site where
legend has it that Assyrian tyrant Nemrut
hurled Abraham into a bonfire, you'll
appreciate the Middle Eastern flavor of what
is perhaps eastern Turkey's most compelling
city. After getting a bird's eye view of
Sanliurfa from the Nemrut's hill-top
citadel, we return to the hotel for dinner.
Evening entertainment is a Sirra Gecesi, a
traditional gathering at which melodic
folksongs are sung, çig kofte (spicy steak
tartar meatballs) eaten and mirra (the
strong local coffee) drunk. Overnight in
Sanliurfa
4th Day…
After breakfast, we drive south to Harran,
the last surviving example of Syriac
 mud-built
houses, this town mentioned in the Genesis
has a history stretching back over 6,000
years. The ruins of a Crusader fortress are
visible on what was once an Assyrian temple
dedicated to Sin, god of the moon, and the
remains of an Arab-built Islamic university,
the world's first, are still evident. After
a tea break in one of the ubiquitous
bee-hive shaped houses, we drive east to
Mardin, a picturesque town clinging to a
sheer rocky bluff and overlooking the Syrian
plains. After lunch in a historic Mardin
home, There, we visit Kırklar church,
Deyrulzefran, or "Saffran Monastery", a
Syrian Orthodox orphanage founded in 439 AD
and for centuries the seat of the Syrian
Orthodox patriarch, and Kasimiye medresse.
Overnight and dinner in Mardin.
5th Day…
After breakfast, first we tour nearby Midyat,
famed for its ornately carved stone homes
and silversmiths. There, we visit Mar
Gabriel monastery, a working community of
Syrian Orthodox nuns and monks who will be
happy to share with you information about
the area's 2,000-year old Christian past. On
the way to Diyarbakir, we visit to Hasankeyf,
which is one of the most interesting spot of
the tour, a now-ruined city built on the
banks of the Tigris, exploring its 12th
century palace, mosque and tombs. Then
continue to Diyarbakir, via Batman, upon
arrival visit to Ulu Cami, one of Anatolia's
first grand Seljuk mosques, and the black
basalt walls enclosing the largest city in
Southeast Turkey, a settlement that was
ancient thousands of years before it fell to
Alexander the Great. Then have a dinner
before taking you to the airport, where we
say good-bye until we hopefully see you on
another tour. Overnight in Istanbul. |
The
Gateway to Mesopotamia 
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